In the synthetic fabric field it was desired to provide protective and outerwear apparel fabrics which were water-proof, breathable, and highly abrasion resistant.
To achieve that result the prior art was directed to multiple ply bonded combinations of fabrics, wherein each individual fabric ply contributed one or more of the desirable properties, namely, water-proofness, breathability and abrasion resistance.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,953,566, granted Apr. 27, 1976, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,187,390, granted Feb. 5, 1980, both to Gore, it was proposed to provide a porous PTFE sheet, which PTFE sheet was then bond laminated often as a middle layer between a nylon outer fabric and a light weight tricot inner fabric to provide an outerwear apparent fabric. Such laminated fabrics would not, however, wash or dry clean well, inasmuch as the laminate bond would weaken and break, particularly so in dry cleaning.
Now there is provided by the present invention a one ply fabric sheet which achieves commercially acceptable levels of water-proofness, breathability, abrasion resistance and dry cleanability.
It is therefore a principal object of the present invention to provide a novel coated fabric and formulation and method for providing said coated fabric.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a single ply fabric which is commercially acceptable and competitive with multiple ply fabrics, particularly so in outerwear applications.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a coated fabric as aforesaid which provides a combination of desired outerwear apparel properties, including without limitation, water-proofness, breathability, good hand, abrasion resistance and dry cleanability.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a coated fabric as aforesaid which is readily produced and suitable for a broad range of outerwear uses, and other uses where there is extensive exposure to the elements.